U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,161, issued Sep. 17, 1991 and assigned to Yazaki Corporation discloses a slide rail connector arrangement by which a connector block of the type suitable for joining serial lengths of electrical conductors is mountable on a bracket or other suitable structural component. The connector block is provided on an outside surface with spaced parallel rails defining a female slot which is open at one end and closed at the other. The bracket is provided on an outside surface with spaced, parallel and oppositely extending fingers which are complemental to the female slot and which can be slidingly entered into the slot from the open end. Interengaging lock means are provided on the connector and bracket within the slot to releasably lock the mounting block in place when the male slide portion is driven home. In this arrangement, there are specific locations for the mounting blocks and incremental repositioning is not possible.
Another mounting system is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 61-134629. This system uses adapters which permit different connectors to be mounted on a single bracket. The adapter is positioned between the connector and the bracket. However, a specific adapter is needed for each possible mounting block configuration. Thus, each time a new connector configuration is required, a new adapter must be designed. The use of an adapter requires an inventory of multiple adapters for each particular application. Using an adapter also requires an additional assembly step to install the adapter and adds to the complexity of the mounting system. Therefore, these connectors lack versatility because a specific adapter must be designed for each application.